In 1944, Joseph James filed a lawsuit against the Marinship Corp. and the union forits "closed-shop" practices, and eventually the California Supreme Court ruled infavor of James.

"This was a major victory in the civil rights movement that upheld thefederal prohibition on racial discrimination outlined in President Roosevelt'sExecutive Order 8802," wrote the authors of a historical evaluation of 25 Liberty ShipWay commissioned by the VA.

"It became the precedent for many future civil rightscases involving racial discrimination against African-Americans." James went on tobecome president of the National Association for the Advancement of ColoredPeople.

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